Skip to the method
Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

English Breakfast

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.50 from 106 ratings
A full English Breakfast are probably the most eaten breakfast around the world. I cannot recall any coffee shop, hotel, guesthouse or bed and breakfast not offering an English Breakfast on their menu. Everywhere I worked during my chef career we had the English Breakfast on the menu, with each establishment just a different way of plating. Some going a bit out of their way by offering home made baked bread as toast, otheres simply buying a bread at the supermarket and toasting it. At the more fancier establishments you would more likely find your toast are home–made bread from the establishment itself–which I think am a lovely gesture of putting more effort into it. At many establishments you can enjoy both cold and hot breakfast choices, where at some other establishments you can only choose one option. At my very first job at Blue Gum Country Estate, we had a wonderful buffet table with various options to enjoy, followed by a hot breakfast menu to choose from. Until today it is still personally for me, the best breakfast menu among all the establishments I have worked at and I will definitely share more of the options among my breakfast category.  
A full English breakfast platter with fried eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, and toast.
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Total 30 min
Serves 1

Jump to the method

Ingredients

  • Olive oil for frying
  • 1-2 boerewors chipolata sausages
  • 2-3 rashers of streaky bacon or back bacon
  • ½ tomato, core removed and sliced evenly
  • 1 basil leaf
  • 4 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 2 sprigs of thyme, chopped finely(to use with the mushrooms)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 slices of bread
  • butter for bread
  • jam of choice

Method

  1. Fry the Sausages in olive oil for about 10-15 minutes on low heat, depending on the seize- if the sausages are thick then it usually cooks longer than thin sausage. Turn the sausages occasionally to brown them on both sides, keep them aside once cooked

  2. Fry the bacon for 5-10 minutes- if you are lucky to have a salamander, pop them on a try and cook, but keep an eye as it can burn quickly if you are placing them directly on the top tray

  3. Fry the mushrooms in the olive oil with the sprigs of chopped thyme- season well with salt and pepper. This will take about 4-6 minutes

  4. Season the tomato with salt and pepper on both sides and slowly fry the tomato with the basil leaf- if you turn up the heat too much the tomato will be brown and cooked on the outside but will be still hard on the inside(the result you often see in a customer plate when clearing the table)

  5. For the fried eggs rather take a separate non-stick pan( The secret of a fried egg lies in the pan, rather use a non-stick pan or a good quality pan, your grandma's old pan will not be the best suitable option). Heat the pan on VERY low heat, melting the butter or oil gently. Break the eggs and let it slowly cook. After a few minutes, cover the pan with a lid and let it cook further until the yolk are soft and runny or a hard egg (your choice of egg), remember that when adding the lid you will speed up the cooking process so do keep an eye on the pan so you don't overcook the choice of eggs

  6. Heat the sausage, bacon, tomato and mushrooms a few minutes before the eggs are ready and plate everything all at once with all the cooked ingredients being hot

  7. Serve with toast of choice, butter and jams.NOTE: It is of upmost importance to use the correct pan. The same applies for an omelet, if you use a pan too old which can let the food stick easily, you will have trouble taking the eggs out of the pan. It will cause the eggs to break when taking it out and can turn out into a complete mess. Now is the time to invest in that pan you have your eye on

More breakfast